Friday, March 31, 2017

Three members of the renowned Ricercar Consort performed on the opening day of the second Bach in Jerusalem Festival (March 20th-25th 2017). The concert – “Bach’s Journeys” – took place in the Mary Nathaniel Golden Hall of Friendship of the Jerusalem International YMCA. Performing the concert were the ensemble’s director Philippe Pierlot (viola da gamba), Enrico Gatti (violin) and Maude Gratton (harpsichord). Formed in Belgium in 1980 along with the Ricercar label, the Ricercar Consort, focusing mostly on music of the 17th century, is one of the foremost groups performing Baroque music.

Two works from Dietrich Buxtehude’s opus 1 and 2 Sonatas, their scoring typical of the north German chamber tradition, were played with much charm, refinement and the excitement of the then new “stylus phantasticus”. The players exercised both close collaboration and freedom in playing that set the yardstick for an evening of intelligent and balanced performance, devoid of tasteless affectations.A rare treat was hearing two solo J.S.Bach sonatas with harpsichord (of which there are so few), first the Violin Sonata in E-minor BWV 1023, in which Gatti set out the work’s narrative with linear clarity and with emotion, tugging at the heart strings as he lingered just a little longer on a dissonance yet to be resolved; in the BWV 1029 Sonata, with Pierlot and Gratton’s interweaving of melodies creating vivid interest, meeting on poetic dissonance in the intimate central Adagio movement, then launched into their rich, energetic realization of the final Allegro movement.

Harpsichordist Maude Gratton’s sparkling solo playing included three movements from Bach’s Partita No.6, opening with the complex, mammoth Toccata, in which she juxtaposed intellect with depth of expression; her playing of the Ricercar à 3 from the Musical Offering made a strong case for the work probably largely being written for keyboard as she researched and explored the living textures of the piece Bach chose to call “ricercar” rather than “fugue”.

The Ricercar Consort concluded its concert with J-P. Rameau’s Troisième Concert, their reading of the work, unique in its setting for harpsichord with accompanying instruments, reflecting the variety, temperament and moments of the unanticipated in Rameau’s expressive mature style, the artists’ gently-swayed playing of the hypnotic undulating thirds of “La Timide” (2nd movement) followed by a pair of jaunty, revved-up Timbourins, the Provençal dance quite a favourite in Rameau operas.

The three Ricercar Consort players’ eloquent and subtle playing delighted the festival audience with the best of Baroque music for violin, viola da gamba and harpsichord.

Monday, March 27, 2017

Taking place in the Recanati Auditorium of the Tel Aviv
Museum of Art on March 23rd 2017, the Israel Chamber Orchestra’s
recent all-Mozart concert offered a broad range of repertoire, covering
orchestral music, opera and theatre. Conducting the somewhat non-mainstream
event was Stanley Sperber. The program opened with W.A.Mozart’s Symphony No.38
in D-major K.504, “Prague”, so-called because it was premiered in that city in
1787, where the composer was enjoying great popularity. It is clear that this
symphony was not originally written to be played in Prague: it was heard in
what ensued as a number of triumphant concerts for him there, resulting in the
commission for “Don Giovanni”. From the separate, ceremonious utterances of the
brooding opening Adagio, Maestro Sperber (choosing to conduct without a baton)
brought into play the various elements indicative of Mozart’s mature symphonic
craft – exuberance, energy, melodiousness, the composer’s economy of ideas,
purity of expression, his skilful use of dissonance and his subtlety of
layering – in performance incisive, eloquent and flavoured with a sense-of-wellbeing.
Some fine woodwind playing characterises the ICO’s splendid orchestral sound.

Following intermission, the stage took on a different guise:
the right side was now occupied by a grand armchair, a door frame and a glistening
motorcycle in preparation for Rosemarie Danziger’s adaptation and stage direction
of Mozart’s Singspiel “Der Schauspieldirektor” (The Impresario) composed to a
libretto by Gottlieb Stephanie jnr. Since
2013, Danziger has been directing the Vienna-Tel Aviv Vocal Connection (founded
by Sylvia Greenberg and conductor/vocal coach David Aronson). All the singers of
this ICO production have been participants in seminars of the Vienna-Tel Aviv
Vocal Connection.

The comic chamber opera, a farcical look behind the scenes
of an opera company, satirizes the rivalries and divas of show business. As the
ICO sets the scene with its effervescent playing of the overture to
“Impresario” (the only part of the opera really familiar to most concert-goers)
the music offers a sneak preview of the naïve melodiousness of the ensuing
arias and of Mozart’s characteristic tongue-in-cheek wit, but also of his generous
orchestral scoring. And as we hear the overture, La Roche (the opera director,
portrayed by actor and pantomimic Fyodor Makarov) is seeing to his appearance –
powdering his face, plastering down his hair, donning his jacket and bow-tie.
And in readiness for the proceedings, the stage needs vacuum-cleaning. The
vacuum cleaner pipe will then serve La Roche (in a non-singing role) as a
kind-of hoarse, massive wind instrument joining the orchestra at certain moments
throughout the production; a comical touch, for, after all, Makarov is a very
fine clown. As to the other characters on stage, all (except for Ayelet
Amots-Avramson) are dubious characters. Mezzo-soprano Zlata Hershberg, for
example, (as Clairon) plays the part of a leather-clad, whip-wielding sadist
with oomph, her ample, well-grounded voice, joy and natural stage presence
making for fine, jocose entertainment. Soprano Avigail Gurtler-Har-Tuv plays
the scantily-clothed Madame Herz; here, the young opera singer’s creamy soprano
timbre and already secure coloratura merge comfortably with her waggish
penchant for comedy as she sails effortlessly through registers of her voice in
delightful solo- and ensemble singing. Her rival, Madame Silberklang, is played
by soprano Christina Maria Fercher (Austria); in her performance, as colourful
as her outfit (Fercher made the transition from musical comedy to opera) her
powerful voice making its statement, as does her skilful dancing of the
Charleston, with the ICO digressing momentarily from Mozart to accompany it
with a reminder of the ebullient music of the Roaring 20s. As Buff, La Roche’s
handsome assistant, Brazilian-born baritone Robson Bueno Tavares displayed fine
vocal ability, spending much of his time on stage flirting with the young
ladies. Endowed with a powerful, rich and warm voice, young Austrian-born tenor
Franz Gürtelschmied,
a singer fast making his mark on the European opera-, Lied- and church music
scene, played Vogelsang, an opera agent working for La Roche, luring lady
singers to their company by means of his beloved motorcycle. And he is owed
money!

A whimsical touch is that Makarov and each of the singers is
speaking his/her own language: we hear Hebrew, German, Russian, English and
Portuguese spoken; it is somewhat possible to grasp the gist of what is being
said.And then, a certain Madame Krone,
the exquisitely-dressed Ayelet Amots-Avramson, appears on the scene looking
totally out-of-place among this motley collection of characters. She observes
what is happening, is impartial to the changes being discussed and is about to
leave. In her quiet self-assurance, Amots-Abramson is convincing on stage; her strong, resonant voice and fine diction invite the audience to listen. The pompous La Roche, aware that all those around are rebelling, holds a
grandiloquent speech in order to bring about order and harmony…to make new laws.
The speech, based on La Roche’s speech from Richard Strauss’ opera “Capriccio”,
might well be inferring to the state of the local Israeli culture scene.

Stephanie (himself an impresario) was given the idea for the
opera by Emperor Joseph II. Not an original plot, the subject appealed to
Mozart, who would have been familiar with the difficulties encountered by an
impresario endeavouring to assemble a theatrical company in Salzburg. Mozart’s
original score comprises only five numbers – each masterful and funny - and the
opera has passed through many hands, undergoing much adaptation. Danziger has
made several changes, among them, the addition of four arias from other Mozart
operas, these working in well with the characters and plot. Maestro Sperber,
entering into the convivial spirit of the production, drew all musical threads
together in music-making that was high-spirited, energetic and appealing. In
this production, the Israel Chamber Orchestra really let its hair down! I think
Mozart would have liked it a lot.

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Marking St.
Patrick’s Day (March 17th), a classical Irish concert soirée took place on March 18th 2017 in the Pasha Room
of the American Colony Hotel, Jerusalem.On their first visit here, the three artists – pianist Dierdre Brenner,
mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught and violinist Rita Manning – are Irish, all with international
careers. Words of welcome were offered by Jonathan Conlon, representative of
the Office of Ireland in Palestine. Addressing the international audience, which
included members of the Irish Parliament and the diplomatic community, Mr.
Conlon spoke of St. Patrick’s Day as when Irish people all over the world
gather to celebrate Ireland and “Irishness”. He also thanked Ms. Petra Klose (K
und K, Wien) for her organization of the concert.

The program
opened with W.A.Mozart’s Sonata for piano and violin in E-minor, K.304 (1778), the only
of the composer’s violin and piano sonatas written in a minor key; in keeping with most
in the set published in Paris,it
consists of two movements. Manning and Brenner gave intensity and expression to
the work’s wistful mood. In the Tempo di Menuetto (2nd movement)
also serious (a far cry from its light-hearted courtly ancestor) the artists’
small hesitations allowed for a feel of spontaneity, its splendid dolce E-major
middle section played with charm and tranquillity. Then to Erraught and
Brenner’s performance of Joseph Haydn’s “Scena di Berenice”, a single scene the
composer set to the text from Metastasio’s libretto for “Antigono”. In her presentation of
the work’s dramatic recitatives, short ariosos and a final powerful aria,
Erraught gave a gripping and convincing portrayal of Berenice, overwhelmed and
delirious in her desire to accompany her lover to the underworld. The various
aspects of Berenice’s emotional plight were displayed not only in her strategic
use of vocal colour but also in the singer’s body language.Brenner’s piano accompaniment formed an
integral part of the passionate and impactful performance.The first section of the program concluded
with Camille Saint-Saëns’ “Violons dans le soir” (1907) to a text by a young contemporary of the
composer – Comtesse Anna de Noailles. The text describes the sobbing evening
music of the violin as disturbing the calm of the natural world. In the quite
different five short stanzas of this “mini-cantata”, Erraught, Brenner and
Manning struck a fine balance, with voice and violin obbligato engaged in
dialogue, the violin echoing (at times, uttering strident comments) as interaction
between the two took on vivacity, the two alternating or joining to present independent
agendas. Brenner ‘s attentive piano accompaniment was subtle and sensitive. A
challenging work to perform, and one seldom heard here on the concert platform,
the artists created its bewitching mood, offering a satisfying performance.

Following intermission, all the works the works performed were Irish,
beginning with two movements of Charles Stanford’s Six Irish Fantasies, op.54. In
addition to his time spent studying with German masters, honing his compositional art, Stanford
had made contact with some of Europe’s greatest violinists. The Irish Fantasies
display his skill at writing miniatures, but they were also composed as a
response to the interest in Irish music at the time, this not just within Ireland.
Manning and Brenner’s vigorous and wholehearted performance of “Caione”, a
concert piece bristling with temperament, was followed by the Jig: opening with the spirit of this Irish folk dance
and with traditional fiddling, the piece deviates from the jolly dance to proceed as a set of
variations, to return to the jig only in the coda. Fine solo fare not just for
the violinist, Brenner’s playing of the piano part attested to Stanford’s own competence
at the piano. In “Molly on the Shore”, Kreisler’s arrangement of a piece Percy
Grainger wrote in 1907 featuring two authentic Irish reels, Brenner and Manning’s
buoyant playing challenged some members of the audience to remain seated, as
the artists tossed it off with the wink of an eye. This was followed by Tommy Laurence’s
arrangement of “Danny Boy”, a version seasoned with some discretely different harmonies.

Then to Hamilton Harty’s settings of Irish texts for voice and piano. The
first was “Sea Wrack”, (wrack meaning seaweed) to a poem of Moira O’Neill. With
Brenner’s playing no less dedicated to the song’s content, Erraught re-created
its tender narrative and resulting tragedy:‘There' a fire low upon the
rocks to burn the wrack to kelp,There' a boat gone down upon
the Moyle, an' sorra one to help!Him beneath the salt sea, me
upon the shore,By sunlight or moonlight we'll lift the wrack no
more.The dark wrack,The sea wrack,The wrack may drift ashore.’Set to a traditional Irish air from County Donegal and
discovered by Herbert Hughes, “My Lagan Love” (The Lagan: an Irish river) presented
Erraught’s warm, poignant rendition of the tender love-song and her rich
palette of vocal colours, complemented by Harty’s poetic piano part.

Tara Erraught introduced the last bracket of songs
as favourites of hers from a young age. Her gently droll performance of “The
Stuttering Lovers” was followed by the rapt, captivating mood she inspired for “I
will walk with my love” and the understated heartbreak almost whispered in “She
moved thro’ the fair”. A fitting conclusion to the program was “The Leprechaun”,
a song about the most important Irish fairy, the little imp dressed in green, of
course!

Sunday, March 19, 2017

“RED”, pianist
Shira Shaked’s first solo CD covers a lot of ground. Choosing to open with the
Fantasia in F sharp minor, H.300, Wq.67 (1787) of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach,
Johann Sebastian’s second oldest son (and the most avant-garde of the four composer
sons), Shaked challenges the listener to join her in some of the quirkiest
keyboard music emerging from the 18th century. Shaked’s reading of
this late work engages, first and foremost, in the improvisational character of
the piece, re-creating Emanuel’s own style of “Empfindsamkeit”, characterised
by eccentric, wild emotionalism, of sudden contrasting moods but also of much sublime
melodiousness. Her minimal use of the sustaining pedal serves her well
stylistically, as does her careful pacing, as she examines the shape and fibre
of each motif. Fast, extravagant passages are well controlled, displaying fine, light finger-work and she
presents some with a touch of whimsy. Shaked pays tribute to Bach’s belief in
“freedom that eliminates anything slavish”, her playing creating a coherent
whole in performance that is highly personal, as would have been the case in C.P.E.Bach’s
ruminations on the keyboard.

Shaked’s
playing of W.A.Mozart’s Piano Sonata No.13 in B flat major K.333 breathes the
charm and grace of this gem, as she reminds the listener of the lightness and
beauty inherent in two-part keyboard textures occasionally visited by fuller
chords. In presenting its different subjects and profusion of melodies, she
addresses the subtlety of contrast present only under the fingers of a sophisticated
pianist, never launching into thick, unwieldy textures, as its darker moments
emerge from the natural qualities of the minor mode, rather than from agitated expression.
And how unique the final movement is in its concerto allegro form, with the
pianist playing all roles. Shaked’s playing of the jaunty movement is crisp,
her melodies clean; she gives individuality to the diversified elements of the
(genuine) cadenza, lingering at its end to make room for the return of the “orchestra”
for the bracing closing section. Mozart would have played the work on his 1782
Anton Walter fortepiano. Recording it on a Model D Steinway & Sons piano,
Shira Shaked has made an informed effort at evoking the real sound-world of
this galant work.

And to the art of the miniature. For this, Shaked has
chosen Alexander Scriabin’s Trois Morceaux opus 45 (1905), written during his
six-year sojourn in western Europe - three tiny pieces, the longest of them
lasting just over a minute. Shaked engages in the mystery and rapture of these
vignettes as well as in the unconventionality balanced with discipline of the idiomatic
style of Scriabin’s middle period that straddled tonality and his own gentle
move towards atonality. Shaked’s splendidly sculpted playing of the
contemplative, bitter-sweet “Feuillet d’Album” (Album Leaf), allowing for just a
touch of Romantic sentimentality, is followed by the volatile, unpredictable “Poème Fantastique”,
dazzling and roguish, its atonal agenda closing with the surprising gesture of
a tonal cadence. And back to Scriabin’s
more contemplative mood and his hyper-refined sensibility, with Shaked’s sympathetic
rendering of the wistful “Prelude” richly wrought in sweeping phrases, some of
them diminishing upwards into pastel arpeggii.

In April of 1844, Heinrich Heine wrote: ”When I am near
Chopin, I quite forget his mastery of piano technique and plunge into the soft
abysses of his music, into the mingled pain and delight of his creations, which
are as tender as they are profound.” Chopin was 34 years old when he composed
his Piano Sonata No.3 in B-minor, op.58. His health was now beginning to
decline. The sonata, his last for piano, was written mostly during the summer spent
at George Sand’s estate in Nohant, but never played by Chopin in public. In her
performance of this masterpiece, Shira Shaked addresses the hallmarks of
Chopin’s style. The opening Allegro maestoso is a typical Chopin piano
soundscape: we hear its myriad of lyrical melodies, shifting moods and textures
flowing at an unrelenting pace, each examined for its shape and content as she
orchestrates their Romantic language in playing that is crystal clear.With nimble, agility, Shaked highlights the
elusive, entertaining spirit of the Scherzo, its middle section darker in
register and more introspective. The ominous chords opening the Largo give way
to some graceful and fragile melodies, to references of Bach’s counterpoint and
to personal expression on the part of the artist, all these woven into an
opulent fantasia.In the Finale, Shaked
addresses the finest of details together with the richness of its content, her masterful
playing of it never lapsing into ostentatious show or melodrama. This is a rewarding,
insightful performance of the sonata, capturing the beauty and power of
Chopin’s music.

Recorded in 2015 at HaTeiva, Jaffa,
Israel, the disc’s sound quality is distinct, warm and intimate (Noam Dorembus
– recording engineer, Udi Koomran – mixing and mastering). Ilana R. Schroeder's comprehensive liner notes make for interesting reading. The four different
works heard on RED provide a convincing picture of Shira Shaked’s grasp of
style and outstanding musicianship. A graduate of the Buchmann-Mehta School of
Music (Tel Aviv) and the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, Shira Shaked graduated
as a Doctor of Musical Arts from the State University of New York, Stony Brook,
where she was a student of Prof. Gilbert Kalish.

Sunday, March 12, 2017

“Eternal
Light” was the title of the Israeli Vocal Ensemble’s recent concert directed by
guest conductor Franz M. Herzog (Austria). Also taking part in the event was
saxophonist Eyal Aizik. This writer attended the concert at St. Andrews Scots
Memorial Church, Jerusalem, on March 2nd, 2017.

Born in
1962, conductor, composer and music educationalist Franz M. Herzog today serves
as artistic director of the Vocalforum Graz (chamber choir) and was founder and
chief conductor of the Cantanima, a Styrian youth choir (2004-2013). He is
currently head of choral conducting at the Johann Joseph Fux Conservatory
(Graz) and lecturer at the Graz University of Music and Performing Arts. As a
composer, his oeuvre largely focuses on choral- and vocal music. This was his
first Israeli concert tour.

Established
in 1993 by Yuval Benozer, who continues to serve as its music director, the
Israeli Vocal Ensemble, comprising professional singers, is among Israel’s
finest choral chamber choirs. With its own concert series, the IVE performs in
major Israeli concert venues, also taking part in local festivals and overseas.
The ensemble’s repertoire ranges from medieval to the most contemporary of works;
it has also recorded film music. The Israel Vocal Ensemble is supported by the
Ministry of Culture and Sport, Mif’al Hapais and private donors.

“Eternal
Light”, a program of mostly European pieces, many sacred and (almost all) a-cappella from the Renaissance through
Romantic music to that of the 21st century, took the listener on a
spiritual journey through the course of a day, starting out in the sparkling
light of daybreak. The program opened with the Lenten hymn “Christe, qui lux es
et dies” (O Christ who are light and day) by Robert White (1538-1574), a
sophisticated, imitative piece, its polyphonic verses built around the
chant.Via the densely-interwoven
textures and descriptive effects of György Ligeti’s (1923-2006) “Morning”,
we were presented with a performance of young Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo’s
(b.1978) stunning spiritual- and richly blended 8-voiced “O magnum mysterium”,
with saxophonist Eyal Aizik’s mellifluous playing of phrases weaving into-,
complementing- and conforming with the work’s vocal lines.

Of great
interest to singers and audience alike were two works of Franz Herzog himself, their
first Israeli performances. We heard the Kyrie and Gloria of his Missa “Lux
caelestis” (2004), a richly-coloured multi-dimensional canvas of ostinati creating
vital rhythms, of clusters, the enmeshment of seconds and contrasts between
lighter and darker timbres - music of excitement and conviction. “Laudato si,
mi Signore” (2011) uses a text from St. Francis of Assisi’s Canticle of the Sun
of 1224 and in the original Umbrian dialect of Italian. Here, Herzog’s writing threads his evocative
use of syllables and words effectively with the natural beauty of voices in a gripping
kaleidoscope of lush, introverted textures then spiralling into powerful
grandeur, expressive of the text’s message of both suffering and forgiveness.

An
interesting reflection on the text of Heinrich Schütz’ exquisite motet “Herr,
nun lässest Du deiner Diener” (Lord, now lettest thou thy servant
depart in peace) from the burial service for Prince Heinrich von Reuss, a
Dresden nobleman, was the division into a low 5-part choir and a smaller ensemble
of two sopranos and bass and set apart. In the latter, the bass represented the
soul in bliss, with the sopranos as two seraphim. With each choir singing a
different text, the IVE singers highlighted the work’s extraordinary texture in
unforced singing and fine projection of words, even at moments when both texts were
intertwined.

Another fascinating
motet was Felix Mendelssohn’s setting of Psalm 43 (opus 78 No.2) (1844), its
five double verses divided into four sections, with basses and tenors singing
the melody in unison against sopranos and altos in harmony, then moving into “O
send your light and your truth” soaring into eight-part harmony. The work
concludes with the composer (texturally and musically) revisiting the cry of
suffering from his setting of Psalm 42, a heartrending personal gesture. Rich
in Romantic harmonies, Edvard Grieg’s “Ave, maris stella” (Hail, star of the
sea) was given a personal and dynamic reading, poignant in its gentle echoes. Probably his best-known sacred work, Joseph
Gabriel Rheinberger’s (1839-1901) subtly introspective, syllabic six-voiced
"Evening Song" (1873) was sensitively shaped and richly satisfying. Another fine
miniature was “O nata lux” (O Light born of Light) from “Lux Aeterna” by one of
America’s most acclaimed and widely-performed choral composers Morton Lauridson
(b.1943), its economic use of pure triads and those coloured by an added second
or fourth flowing in in a stream of undulating melodic lines in the composer’s glistening
treatment of the theme of light. And to “Stars”, a mysterious and mystical night
piece in four voices by Latvian composer Ēriks Ešenvalds (b.1977) to the text of
American poetess Sara Teasdale’s poem of the same name. Ešenvalds’ unique setting calls for
water-filled glasses of specific pitches and sounded by the singers themselves
by running a wet finger around the rim. Herzog led the singers securely through
this work of floating, magical timbres with its underlay of clusters created by
the water-tuned glasses (and their overtones) and the sonorous choral writing
of fluctuating crescendos and diminuendos as its spacious, otherworldly mood was
crowned by a weightlessly-suspended high soprano “a”.

‘Alone in
the nightOn a dark
hillWith pines
around meSpicy and
still,

And a heaven
of stars

Over my
head,

White and
topaz

And misty
red…’

Turning to a
different kind of repertoire, we heard “Amazing Grace” William Cowper’s hymn
text to words by Anglican minister John Newton, published 1779, nowadays mostly
sung to the melody of “New Britain” and referred to by Gilbert Chase as “the
most famous of all the folk hymns”. In Israeli composer/conductor Tzvi Sherf’s
evocative and imaginative arrangement of the song, IVE bass Ronen Ravid soloed
with splendid natural mastery, at one point joined by soprano Talia Dishon to
give the performance a fleeting Afro-American touch.

An unusual
and unique addition to such a program, Eyal Aizik’s hearty-, imaginative- and intermittently
intimate saxophone improvisations, taking their cue from the program’s
repertoire, added an enriching and indeed profound dimension to the event. The
“timeline” agenda of Maestro Herzog’s program effected the integrating of works
of all eras into a fluid and satisfying continuum, with the obvious rapport
between him and the IVE singers resulting in interesting, high-quality choral
performance of exceptional depth and beauty.

Thursday, March 9, 2017

For some strange
reason, chamber music from Georgian England is rarely performed on our concert
platforms. Of course, one major explanation might be the attitude that “no
music of any worth was composed between that of Purcell and Britten”. Another
might be that this instrumental repertoire was mostly performed in the private
salons of the wealthy, an institution now almost forgotten.For Dr. Myrna Herzog, founder and musical
director of Ensemble PHOENIX, this music, belonging to the world of “Glamour
and Fashion: London in the 18th Century”, has as much delight to
offer audiences as it has to its players. 18th century London was
alive with culture, with nightly performances at the Covent Garden and
Haymarket Theatres, with more than 60 ostentatious pleasure gardens offering amusement.
As to British music of the second half of the 18th century,
straddling the Baroque and Classical styles, the London scene was enhanced by
the presence of such figures as violinist Felice Giardini, Johann Christian
Bach and Carl Friedrich Abel, Joseph Haydn and Carl Stamitz.

This writer
attended the PHOENIX concert on March 5th at the Jerusalem Center
for Near Eastern Studies (Mormon University). One of Jerusalem’s most scenic
concert venues, the Center’s beautiful building and extensive landscaped gardens
sit high up on Mount Scopus overlooking the Mount of Olives. Artists performing
on period instruments were Moshe Aron
Epstein-flute, Lilia Slavny-violin, Marina Minkin-harpsichord and Myrna
Herzog-‘cello.

The evening
opened with Trio in G-major of German-born Carl Philipp Stamitz, a virtuoso player
on the violin, viola and viola d’amore. Stamitz (1745-1801) travelled
extensively throughout Europe, his short sojourn of 1777-1778 in London bringing
him much success. Performed by Epstein, Slavny and Herzog, the G-major trio set
the scene for an evening of appealing, uncluttered music of genial charm. With
Moshe Epstein playing the upper, more soloistic part and Slavny’s subtle,
dedicated partnering, the artists offered performance rich in dialogue, in
suave focused tone and delicate nuancing.

In
1784, the European Magazine and London Review published an article that began
thus: “To the honour of the present times, England is no
longer to be pointed as barren of masters in the polite arts. Music, which
formerly derived little advantage from natives of this island, now can boast of
several Professors, who rival the Italian and German masters both in performance
and in composition. The English school, we trust, will continue to do honour to
the science of music: and it will afford us great pleasure to record
occasionally the lives of such of the professors of the art, as, from their abilities
and virtues, deserve to be transmitted to posterity.” The journal’s “composer
of the month” was blind London-born organist and violinist John Stanley
(1712-1786), a prominent figure in London’s musical life, a performer whose
original organ voluntaries drew large crowds to the various churches and are
performed to this day. A transitional composer between Händel and J.C.Bach, his
musical style moved from the Baroque organ style to the pre-Classical concept. In
Stanley’s Solo in D for German Flute op.1 No.7 (1740) a sonata in all but name,
Herzog and Minkin played the continuo role (sympathetically realized on that of
the composer). Moshe Epstein conveyed the clarity and sweetness of Stanley’s
writing for flute; especially touching was the Siciliano (3rd
movement), to be followed by the elegantly stepping 4th movement, with
its deftly handled flute variations most pleasurable.

Joseph
Haydn’s Six Divertimenti à 3 opus 38 for flute, violin and
‘cello, were first published in London in 1784. The composer’s first chamber
music to include the flute (possibly a gesture to the Earl of Abingdon, who had
invited Haydn to come to London and was an enthusiastic flautist) the
Divertimenti provided the middle classes with high quality entertainment.Actually, much of the material of Trio No.4 is
taken from one of his trios for baryton (a bizarre, ‘cello-type instrument).
Displaying the delicate balance of togetherness and individuality, Epstein,
Slavny and Herzog highlighted the heart-warming intimacy, the felicity, spontaneity
and melodic beauty of this London Trio –a hidden gem.

House
composer at Drury Lane, London-born Thomas Arne (1710-1778) was known as a
composer of masques, songs and fashionable Italian-type opera; he is also known
for having composed “Rule Britannia” and “God Save the King”. Much of his
output was burned in the Drury Lane fire of 1809; whatever remained was then
forgotten for two centuries. The PHOENIX performance of his Trio op.3 No.6 in
B-minor served as a reminder to listeners of his sophisticated, skilful
instrumental writing, with each miniature movement a carefully-polished gem.
The artists leaned into strategic dissonances, gave expression to tiny details,
to chromaticism and tasteful ornamentation, all taking part in the lively
banter of the final Allegro.

A
contemporary, German court musician Carl Friedrich Abel (1723-1787), the last
of the great viol players, moved to London in 1758, where he quickly established
himself as a significant writer of chamber music. Slavny, Minkin and Herzog
(the ‘cello here joining as an equal player, not in the continuo role)
performed Abel’s Sonata No.2 in C-major op.9 No.1, (c.1772) a galant, lyrical
bipartite work of the style of light chamber music popular in Georgian London.
In the opening Moderato movement, Slavny’s elegant ornamenting of the repeats
added to the work’s dapper feel as did the players added a touch of the inégal and made use of cadential dissonance, with detached
textures chosen for the ensuing Vivace. Their playing created a musical portrait Abel
himself, a genteel character who hobnobbed with London’s artists, engravers and
designers, those including Gainsborough and Cipriani.

Commissioned
by The King’s Theatre in London to write two operas for the 1762-63 season,
Johann Christian Bach (J.S.Bach’s youngest son) moved to London at age 27,
making his home there, dwelling in prestigious locations and receiving the
position of music master to Queen Charlotte and her family. In 1764, the
younger Bach (1735-1782) began collaboration with Abel (who had studied with
Johann Sebastian) in what was known as the Bach-Abel concert series; it was in
those concerts that the two aired many of their works. Published in 1763 and
dedicated to Queen Charlotte, J.C.Bach’s six opus 1 concertos were written for both
the concert hall and for amateur musicians in the home. At the Jerusalem performance,
this vibrant work made for fine concert fare. Its opening movement bristled
with effervescent joie-de-vivre. In the Andante movement, the harpsichord solo shone
through, accompanied by pizzicato (staccato on flute) chords. Then to the
variations on “God Save the Queen”, conveyed with warmth of sound, its tutti
punctuated by plenty of solo sections on the part of Minkin. The “London Bach”,
steering away from his northern German background, was paving a new way for the
concerto in the chamber music setting.

There can be
no doubt that performing this music on period instruments conjures up all the
timbres and intentions the above-mentioned composers would have had in mind.
The flute Moshe Epstein was playing is an original Rudall & Rose instrument
from London (1827), i.e. an early Romantic flute, its sound indeed similar to that
of flutes heard in 18th century England. It is totally different to
the modern flute, having a much gentler, more modest sound; an instrument with
totally different fingering, so quite challenging to play, Epstein sounded
perfectly at home on it. The violin Lilia Slavny was playing is a copy of a
1734 Guaneri del Gesù instrument built by British
violinmaker Roger Hargrave (Bremen). She and Herzog alternated between Classical and Baroque bows. For this program, Myrna Herzog chose to play a truly Baroque
‘cello made by Johann Adam Reigeld (Germany, c.1730); this unique instrument has a
penetrating sound and what could only be described as a “very swollen belly”.
Marina Minkin was playing her Flemish harpsichord, built by Klop (Holland).

Not hosted
by singer and actress Susannah Cibber (Thomas Arne’s sister) at her Sunday
evening salons, where she was hostess to “a constellation of wits, poets,
actors and men of letters” (according to Burney, who also attended), not seated
on Chippendale chairs or drinking tea from Wedgewood cups, the Jerusalem
audience was indeed offered a delightful and authentic taste of 18th
century English salon music in another of Myrna Herzog’s meticulously-researched and
enlightening programs.

“Bells and
Orchestra”, a unique concert of the fourth Tallinn-Tel Aviv Mustonenfest (February
13th-March 1st 2017) took place in the Recanati
Auditorium of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art on February 25th. No new
face to Israeli concert audiences, festival musical director and violinist
Andres Mustonen conducted the Israel Camerata Jerusalem. The concert also
featured the Arsis Handbell Ensemble, Tallinn with its conductor Aivar Mäe.

Known for
his indomitable energy, Andres Mustonen will always keep his audience on its
toes, playing works rarely heard in the concert hall or offering a different
view on repertoire familiar to the concert-going public. The former was the
case at the Tel Aviv concert, as he conducted Josef Haydn’s Symphony No.60 in
C-major, Il Distratto (The Absent-minded One), actually incidental music to a
German language version of “Le Distrait” (François Regnard), a comedy performed in
1774 at Esterháza, the home of Prince Esterházy, Haydn’s patron. The six movements
parallel the play’s action, in which Leandre, in his absent-mindedness, dresses
his valet instead of himself, on leaving a party alights the wrong carriage,
taking him to someone else’s home, where he climbs into bed with a sleeping
woman, then to be confronted by her furious husband, etc. Reading with relish into
the work’s humorous programmatic content, Mustonen entertains the audience with
its comical effects, such as when the music dies away in the first movement to
depict Leandre forgetting what he was about to say…to suddenly return in
boisterous utterance. The middle movements weave folk music into the comical
score, the last laugh occurring in the final movement: coinciding with Leandre forgetting
to go to his own wedding, the music screeches to a halt for the violins to tune
their instruments. Mustonen’s fresh, crisp reading of this somewhat outlandish
work was definitely in keeping with Regnard’s play and of course enhanced by Haydn’s
sparkling sense of humour, reminding the listener that music is there to
entertain us.

And the
program held another surprise: a setting of the Chaconne from J.S.Bach’s
Partita No.2 for violin BWV 1004 by Estonian singer and composer Tõnis Kaumann. Kaumann (b.1971) is a post-modern composer,
whose music blends a number of styles, from pop and jazz to the Viennese
Classical style, to Gregorian chant and more. His writing is characterized by
its technical fluency, humour and, sometimes, by his liking for the absurd. In this arrangement, Kaumann has added an
orchestral role to the solo violin piece. At the Tel Aviv event, Andres
Mustonen played the violin solo. As he played the well-known virtuoso piece
with vim and vitality, Kaumann’s orchestral agenda added interesting harmonic
and textural dimensions to it, also creating a strong rhythmic (at times, quite
jazzy) pulse. Then there were small duets played with Mustonen by orchestra
members. At times, the orchestra gave the stage to Mustonen, providing a
minimal background to intense moments of the solo violin role, at others,
engaging in virtuosic interaction together with him or enhancing the violin
part with rich tutti textures. In sections where the violin was left to play
without orchestra, the effect was of that of a cadenza. The arrangement also evoked
the dark, dramatic aspect of the Chaconne’s minor middle section. Kaumann’s
intelligent and exhilarating setting made for an excellent concert piece,
proving that Bach’s music is flexible and that it can work well with the
originality and invention of another daring composer.

An
especially interesting section of the concert was devoted to works of Estonian
composer Peeter Vähi, who was present at the Tel Aviv event.
Vähi (b.1955) is a composer whose style
arises from his academic training, his experience in pop music, in electric
sound and processing, also from his deep enquiry into the roots of oriental culture
as well as his own spirituality and deep faith. This has resulted in music that
is highly personal, at the same time creating connections between epochs and
cultures. In recent decades, he has cooperated with musicians from Tibet,
India, Japan, Uzbekistan, China, Japan, Siberia and from other parts of Asia. The
first of his works played at the Tel Aviv concert, “Forty-Two” for oboe and
chamber orchestra (1997), was dedicated to Elvis Presley, Joe Dassin and
Vladimir Vysotsky; the Israel Camerata Jerusalem’s principal oboist Muki Zohar
played the solo. The tonal, noble piece, one of great delicacy, its pensive,
nostalgic oboe melodies set against the slow-stepping orchestral course, was addressed
with beauty of sound and sensitiveness by Zohar. In Memorium HM (2005), actually
written for early music consort, has a decidedly oriental flavour, with its dark-hued
drone and focus on parallel octave melodies (solos: Mustonen and Zohar).
Imposing and uncompromising in its stark message, the percussion ostinato added
a funereal element to this haunting mood piece.

Following
the intermission, the Arsis Handbell Ensemble (Tallinn), conducted by its
artistic director Aivar Mäe, performed a number of pieces. Established
in 1993 as part of the Arsis Chamber Orchestra, the ensemble consists of
professional players using 7+4 octave sets of handbells and a 7-octave set of
hand chimes. Opening with Tõnu Kõrvits’ arrangement of “Awake, My
Heart”, an Estonian folk song, they proceeded to the delicately cascading sounds
of Händel’s Passacaglia, to the perfect tranquillity of the Largo
from Händel’s “Xerxes”, to the beguiling gypsy world of Liszt’s
music ending with the nimble, virtuosic whirring of thousands of bees’ wings in
Rimsky Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumblebee”. The young players of the Arsis
Ensemble displayed superb timing and musicality with the virtuosic skill
acquired from first-class training and dedication.

The event
concluded with Peeter Vähi’s Handbell Symphony (1995), a work
for seven-octave handbell ensemble and chamber orchestra. Seemingly unlikely
allies, Vähi proves that handbells orchestra can find a modus vivendi when
approached with sensitive scoring and balance. Following the intensity and
seriousness of the opening movement, with ‘cellos and double basses making for
a menacing atmosphere, the second movement presented a bright, hearty and
delightfully coloured canvas, with some effects, such as breathy utterances, temporarily
taking the listener into an otherworldly mood. The third movement offered a mix
of delicate, charming solo bell passages, punctuated by a feisty chord here and
there, with the addition of some nice woodwind solos, oriental touches and an
unleashed sense of freedom. Peeter Vähi’s symphony, fine festival fare,
was a work to be experienced both visually and audially.

The Israel
Camerata Jerusalem’s high quality musicianship added much to the evening’s
enjoyment and excellence.